Steerpike is The Spectator's gossip columnist, serving up the latest tittle tattle from Westminster and beyond. Email tips to steerpike@spectator.co.uk or message @MrSteerpike
David Lammy has said Boris Johnson’s bid to fast track his Brexit bill through Parliament means MPs won’t have enough time to scrutinise it properly. Lammy said ‘giving MPs so little time to scrutinise one of the most consequential pieces of legislation we’ll vote on is as transparent as it is cynical’. But while fellow
Boris Johnson can be forgiven for feeling worried when Theresa May took to her feet in the Commons just now. The former prime minister started with the words: ‘I intend to rebel…’. Fortunately for her successor, she then added: ‘…against all of those who don’t want to deliver Brexit.’ May said she intended to back
It’s been a hard couple of days for the Extinction Rebellion protestors. First, the group’s disastrous attempt to block the underground yesterday spectacularly backfired, turning the public against them. And today, the ongoing drama in Westminster over Boris’s Brexit deal has overshadowed their protests. Which may explain why one intrepid protestor resorted to more extreme
The inner workings of the European Union can often seem like a chummy club to outside observers – a place where EU bureaucrats, well-enumerated MEPs and Brussels-based journalists work together and fraternise behind closed doors. That clubby atmosphere certainly seemed to be on display today at Jean-Claude Juncker’s final European Council press conference in Brussels,
It looks as though it is all getting a bit too much for Jean-Claude Juncker. The EU Commission president snapped at Channel 4 News’s Matt Frei for asking him a question. ‘I’m speaking,’ Juncker yelled when he was quizzed on ruling out another extension. Oh dear.
Boris Johnson managed to defy his critics today and reach a Brexit deal with the European Union. The new agreement updates the Northern Ireland protocol of Theresa May’s Withdrawal Agreement and the Political Declaration, which deals with the future relationship. But while the rest of the deal appears to be unchanged, Boris has succeeded in
‘Well, it’s just not Brexit’. That’s Nigel Farage’s withering verdict on Boris Johnson’s revised deal with the EU. The Brexit party leader waited all of an hour before telling the BBC that the new agreement was not up to scratch: ‘It should be rejected. The best way out of this would simply (be) to have
Boris Johnson has got a new Brexit deal. It’s true that the Prime Minister has some way to go if he is to get the agreement over the line, not least in trying to persuade the DUP to back it. But Mr S remembers a time not too long ago when plenty were claiming the PM
Extinction Rebellion attempted to shut down several underground lines this morning, as part of an escalation of their citywide protests against climate change. Protestors climbed on top of underground trains to prevent them from moving, and glued themselves to the electric-powered DLR. Exactly why the protestors decided to target one of the most environmentally friendly
We’re still waiting to hear what Mark Francois – and the rest of the ERG – make of Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal. But while Westminster waits with bated breath, Francois has delivered a withering verdict on SW1’s noisiest inhabitant: the ‘stop Brexit’ protester. Francois was about to give his answer during an interview on the
Sadiq Khan’s verdict was clear on plans to make voters show ID before casting their ballots: ‘This is voter suppression’, he said. ‘It will hit poorer and minority communities, just as it does in the US’. But Mr S couldn’t help but notice one of the requirements for people to attend the Mayor of London’s
Emily Thornberry has had a busy day in the Commons. Labour’s shadow foreign secretary heckled her counterpart Dominic Raab this morning after he claimed Jeremy Corbyn wanted Britain to withdraw from Nato. Now, she’s been at it again: apparently yelling the word ‘bollocks’ at international development secretary Alok Sharma during a testy exchange. John Bercow
As tradition dictates, at every Queen’s Speech and State Opening of Parliament, Black Rod (the House of Lords official) will knock three times on the House of Commons door before entering, and leading MPs to listen to the Queen’s speech in the other Chamber. And every year, like clockwork, the Labour MP Dennis Skinner will heckle
When Michael Gove was welcomed back into government this year and appointed Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, some wondered if Boris Johnson was really wise to trust his old nemesis with the serious business of government. After all, Gove both ran against the PM in the recent leadership contest and, infamously, stabbed him in
Elections are a busy period for most politicians – the time when they hit the streets of their constituencies, knock on doors and hand out thousands of leaflets – all in an attempt to keep their seats in the House of Commons. And while some undoubtably do work hard for every ballot slip, some MPs
To the launch of the final volume of Charles Moore’s biography of Margaret Thatcher at Banqueting House. A mix of cabinet ministers, government aides and hacks descended on the Policy Exchange bash to hear both Moore and Boris Johnson speak. With the climate change Extinction Rebellion protests shutting down Whitehall, a number of ministers arrived
Jennifer Arcuri has just broken her silence on the nature of her relationship with Boris Johnson. When quizzed on whether she had an affair with the future PM by Piers Morgan on Good Morning Britain, Arcuri refused to deny it six times. Instead she told Morgan: “I’m not going to be put in a position where
Poor John Bercow is suffering from a lost voice this morning, which is somewhat unfortunate for a Speaker. But fortunately he has Peter Bone watching out for him. The Brexiteer Tory MP has taken to his feet in the Commons to express his concern for Bercow, suggesting he takes some time out to recover: ‘The Speaker
Extinction Rebellion protestors have just sprayed 1800 litres of fake blood over the Treasury using an old fire engine. Unfortunately their protest backfired somewhat when the hose flew out of control, leaving campaigners covered in red liquid: Oh dear…
Vice President of the European Parliament Heidi Hautala has made her mind up about Boris Johnson’s Brexit proposal: it’s no good. The Finnish MEP said ‘it’s not a very serious proposal’. But has she actually read the Prime Minister’s letter to Jean-Claude Juncker? Err, no. ‘But I am more or less aware of the proposal,’ she